CONTENTS: I. A GODDESS AND A COMIC SONG II. HARVESTING AND HARMONY III. THE CULT OF DEMETER IV. ANNA OF ANN V. IRENE VI. NEAERA VII. A TRAGIC DENOUEMENT VIII. HOW THE CULT WAS FOUNDED IX. HOW IT MIGHT BE UNDERMINED X. AN UNEXPECTED SOLUTION XI. THE PLOT THICKENS XII. NEAERA'S IDEA OF DIPLOMACY XIII. NEAERA MAKES NEW ARRANGEMENTS XIV. "I CONSENTED" XV. THE HIGH PRIEST OF DEMETER XVI. ANNA'S SECRET XVII. DESIGNS ON ANNA OF ANN XVIII. A DREAM XIX. THE LEGISLATURE MEETS XX. ON FLAVORS AND FINANCE XXI. THE INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE XXII. "TREASONS, STRATAGEMS, AND SPOILS" XXIII. A LIBEL XXIV. NEAERA AGAIN XXV. THE LIBEL INVESTIGATED XXVI. THE ELECTION XXVII. THE JOINT SESSION XXVIII. LYDIA TO THE RESCUE CONCLUSION - an excerpt from: CHAPTER I A GODDESS AND A COMIC SONG I REMEMBER awakening with a start, conscious of a face bending over me that was beautiful and strange. I was quite unable to account for myself, and my surprise was heightened by the singular dress of the woman I saw. It was Greek not of modern but of ancient Greece. What had happened? Had I been acting in a Greek play and been stunned by an accident to the scenery? No; the grass upon which I was lying was damp, and a sharp twinge between the shoulders told me I had been there already too long. What, then, was the meaning of this classic dress? I raised myself on one arm; and the young woman who had been kneeling beside me arose also. I was dazed, and shaded my eyes from the sun on the horizon whether setting or rising I could not tell. I fixed my eyes upon the feet of my companion; they were curiously shod in soft leather, for cleanliness rather than for protection; tightly laced from the toe to the ankle and half way up the leg half-moccasin and half-cothurnus. I fixed my eyes upon them and slowly became quite sure that I was alive and awake, but seemed still dazed and unwilling to look up. Presently she spoke. "Are you ill?" she asked. "I don't think so," answered I, as I lifted my eyes to hers. When our eyes met I jumped to my feet with an alertness so fresh and fruitful that I seemed to myself to have risen anew from the Fountain of Youth. A miracle had happened. I was dead and had come to life again and apparently this time in the Olympian world. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.